Marine Girl
by WhatifStoryTeller
Summary: After spending years in training with the CP9, Luka is called out for a mission at Water Seven. And that's where she meets her brothers that she hasn't seen since that fateful day in Windmill Village; that day she gave up her freedom and her dream. With the CP9 watching over her shoulder, she cannot contact either one of them. OCC Fem!Luffy CP9!Luffy slight MarcoxLuffy
1. Matching Outfits

"No!"

"You three are going to be marines. I'm tired of hearing reports of three little kids causing trouble in this area, and don't even say it wasn't you, Ace!" Garp yelled at his three ungrateful children. Behind him, a marine boat horned as if to emphasis his point.

Ace stood there grunting looking at the ground. In front of him was Luka, who was blocking Garp from Ace's view. Sabo stood on his side with the same guilty face as him. Unlike other times, Garp meant it. Everything was planned within the last second and they were about to be shipped out of here.

Luka turned her head and looked at Ace. This was her fault that Garp was informed by this event. They were up to their usual raids on the town, and the nobles called in the marines. For once, Garp came out to see for himself. Her stomach turned as she gripped onto her hat. "Gramps leave them alone. It has nothing to do with him."

"What are you talking about?"

Her fingers fidgeted with the fabric of her hat. "…Can't you take me instead?"

"I'm takin' all three of y'all."

"Luka…?" Sabo muttered as he looked at the older girl. Even though she was only one year older than them, she looked so…big from where he was standing. He tightens his grip on his shirt.

"If I became a marine…they can do whenever they want," Luka said. She looked up from under her hat; staring right at her grandpa.

He swelled up with pride of his princess. "Alright," he said before turning away, "We're leaving then."

Soon they arrived at the dock. Luka was being hugged by her two younger brothers. Luka just hugged them back. "See ya soon!" she smiled at them.

"No fuckin' fair," cursed Ace. "Damn Old Man."

"You will be back, right?" Sabo asked.

"Course," she grinned from ear to ear. Sabo grabbed one of her arms, and Ace had the other before letting go. They hugged for a final time and said goodbye. Each one of the trio had each other to relay on, and now they were breaking apart.

She boarded the ship with Garp. He ate a pack of rice crackers as the door closed behind them.

From the window, she watched as they gotten farther and farther away from the landmass; away from Sabo and Ace. She reached for her hat but it was missing. It was in Ace's hands. Now it was only Sabo and Ace to be Pirate King. _'Maybe there's a Marine King?'_ she thought absent mindlessly; but then soon dropped the thought. That sounded boring.

Soon the island disappeared from view and Luka restlessly went around the boat. They kept calling her the new recruit, or those who knew who she was, called her Garp's kid. She just shrugged it off. The whole aura inside of the marine boat felt boring and uncomfortable. She even felt uncomfortable when they gotten off of the boat. Her hands still tried to tug on her hat but she only left air.

Once she gotten off that boat, her whole world changed. Within years of the same boring drills and training, Luka transformed into somebody new; she was different. Her huge smile that brightens anyone's day faded away with time. Her stomach grew less hungry from the tasteless meals. And she was even forming dark circles under her eyes. Her whole life just did a one-eighty.

What happen to that smiling, caring, funny, hunger, simple minded girl?

And that's how her new life started, and her new personally. She was constantly trained by the marines with new techniques; going from one to the other to learn but never leaving the comfort of the Marine headquarters. Garp was watched her progress through the different trials; and Sengoku saw skill in her.

Skill that landed her in CP9.

She was hidden from public view.

The Luka that everyone knew became something that scared everyone. She was trained under Spandam after she made it through all of the training at Marineford. She was only sixteen at the time when she was recruited for CP9 and they taken her on the spot. She was Garp's granddaughter.

She trained with all of her might, all day long. Her body movements were smooth and effortless, but she was still defeated by Lucci every time; he was in charge of her training. She spoke very little to those around her; what she did say was blunt and straight to the point. When the time called for it, she was called on a mission with the rest of the CP9.

She was shipped to Water Seven.

There were five members in the part of the mission. Luka. Lucci. Kaku. Kalifa. Hattori. She was the only rookie out of all of them, but she was the second strongest in the group; following only after Lucci. She was only able to master five of the six Rokushiki techniques.

Each one of them were placed close to the Mayor of Water Seven. Two of them trained effortlessly in shipbuilding, and the third spent all of his time on the shoulder of Lucci. Kalifa gotten the position of a secretary to Mayor Iceburg. Using Garp's power in the marine force, Luka was able to gain a position of captain of the guard throughout the city; which only meant she had the chase the Franky Family around.

Her life became somewhat exciting getting away from Enies Lobby. She saw new sights and heights that she never even experienced in her home village, nor in the Marine Headquarters. But by the end of the day, she had to go back to the bar and report with the others. The black haired girl could never get away from this life.

From that one day in her childhood, she signed a contact with fate and could never get out of the loop.

...

Years passed since that fateful day on Windmill Island. A young boy grew into a young adult with a fine head of hair. He sailed the Grand Line in search of the lost treasure of Gol D. Roger; One Piece. He sailed with his first mate, a childhood friend who became his brother with all of their adventures. He had a brown haired cook who joked with the young man. The young man had a crewmate with a devil fruit power to turn into a phoenix; as well as other crewmates. This was the Spades Pirates; their captain was Portgas D. Ace.

Ace sailed to the nearest city for repairs, Water Seven. This was also the spot that Nico Robin was headed so Ace allowed her to join his ship for the time.

**This is a redo from my first attempt at the story, which is now deleted. Luka is older than Ace and Sabo, and has a different fruit. **

**Please leave a review!**


	2. Cute Girls

It was an average day within the city of Water Seven and Luka did her normal rounds. She walked pass shops and stretched her limbs. It didn't seem like the Franky Family had anything up their sleeves today so she had nothing to do. Beside her in the water was a Yagara Bull who traveled along with her in her daily errands.

"Today is boring…" she complained. Her face didn't twitch or crack; it stayed emotionless as she passed bystanders. Without anything to keep her activity she became bored quickly.

"Good morning Captain Luka!" a citizen greeted with a wave of his hand. She was in charge of the marine base stationed on this floating island as her disguise for this mission. And this façade has been going on for five years so she was welcomed by the citizens of the island.

"Morning," she greeted quickly to the one man. She kept her pace and passed him. She sighed and went to a store. The lady nodded her head at Luka's request, but she already knew the request to heart. The lady handed Luka a small snack and Luka, in exchange, gave her a dollar.

It was around mealtime, about noon, and Luka stuffed her stomach with a single bar to last her till dinner. This was her daily diet. She came back to the river that ran through the city, and broke a piece off of her bar and gave it to the Yagara Bull to feed on. The bull contently ate it out of her hands and smiled up at the young girl.

When she straightens her back, she heard a whisper behind her. She turned around at the noise and within five feet from her was a man dressed in posh uniform. The Yagara Bull shifted in its position to have a glimpse of this man.

The man lifted his hands together and smiled kindly at the young girl. "What a fine day it must be to see such a beauty like you, a young maiden."

Luka jumped inside of the carrier of the Yagara Bull and looked around to see what he was talking about. "Must be a miracle since I don't see nothing," she shrugged her shoulders and commanded the bull to head somewhere else.

The man with brown hair stood there at the side of the sidewalk and watched as Luka was carried away. He itch his head and bite his lip trying to think of what he did wrong.

"Thatch! Get your ass over here!" Marco yelled down the street.

"Oh, oh yeah," Thatch grabbed his bags of foods and headed wards Marco. He looked back but Luka was already gone. He couldn't help but feel like he seen her from somewhere. There was something about her that was familiar. He tilted his head and just shrugged; there were other gems in the city than that one girl.

Marco rolled his eyes once Thatch reached him. "What took you so long?" he complained.

"Just checking out something," Thatch excited.

"Something as in girls?" Marco raised his eyebrow. He laughed once Thatch's face turned red. "When don't you?" he asked with sarcasm.

Thatch laughed with him but halted when he understood the joke. "Hey!"

"What?" the blonde asked as if nothing was the matter.

"You're just jealous," the brown haired muttered with a sly tone. "Anyways, where are we meeting Ace?"

"Galley-La."

"I want to get a drink though…" Thatch moaned. "I heard there's a bar around here somewhere, I heard from Kokoro about it."

"That old coon?"

"The exact one. Come on, let's go there."

…

Ace stood impatiently at Dock One. He was waiting for Marco and Thatch, but he saw no sign of them. His foot tapped the pavement and he looked at his wrist as if he had a watch. They were supposed to be there by now. Knowing Thatch, he was probably scaring the local girls away or drinking.

"I sent Kaku to check on the condition of your ship. He should be back soon," Iceburg informed as he walked out of a door. Behind him was his loyal secretary Kalifa.

"Mayor Iceburg, your meeting with the bu-"

"I'm not going."

She repositioned her glassed and checked something on her clipboard. "I rescheduled it next week."

Ace looked at the duo and bites his lip. He really didn't know how to think about them but he knew he couldn't laugh at the mayor of the island. At least not with Kalifa around; he already had a sight of what she could do.

So he had to wait for three people, and the two he was most counting on didn't show. Kaku appeared flying in the sky and he landed right in front of Ace. He shifted his hat and stood up straight. He was taller than the black haired boy.

"How's my ship?" Ace asked swiftly as he crossed his arms.

Kaku moved and faced the other male. "Your ship? Oh, that bronze nickel! She will be fine in a jiffy. Just needs some work on the top and she's new."

With a slightly lower tone, he asked, "How much would it cost then?" Ace wasn't really one to manage his money, which was all Sabo's duty; that wasn't here right now.

Kaku started talking about the condition of the ship and all of the prices it would cost. Ace zoned out and only heard tiny pieces there and there. After what felt like an hour, Kaku finally stated the closing price.

"That much?! Oh fuck…" Ace made a fist with his hand. He really needed Sabo here right now; or any body. "I will have to get back with you later on that," he waved and turned away. He didn't even know he had any money for the repairs; it has been awhile since he stuck gold and that was when he met Robin. Hopefully Sabo took preparations for this or they would be loners. Maybe he could get his crew to work for the funds; but he cast that thought away. Thatch and him working? That would probably make them owe more money than they own.

He walked down the sidewalk and went into a bar. He needed something to get him mind off the repairs. As soon as he opened the door, he spotted a blonde and a brunette drinking together at a nearby table. 'So that's where they went...' Ace thought. He went up to the counter and ordered himself a drink and then headed to the table with his two crewmates. "Are we having fun?" he said with a threatening tone.

"Fuck..." muttered Thatch. He had his cup halted at his lips and he sat the cup down. "Hello Captain."

"Hey Ace," Marco greeted with a sober tone.

"I didn't know the bar was where we were suppose to gather. Man, and I thought it was the Gallery-La," the freckled face stated as he looked Thatch in the eye.

"You didn't know? I thought we talked about it before we left," Thatch tried to play it out. "Isn't that right, Marco?"

Marco shrugged and took a slip of his sake. He watched above his drink at the two. There was no way in hell he would be caught in the middle of this. Thatch sweated and took a big gulp of his sake while Ace watched him like a hawk. The waiter came and went; handing Ace his drink. Ace took his eyes off of Thatch and drank with him.

Within the hour the two fools were as drunk as ever. Marco sighed heavily. The two acted like babies whenever they drank. With one final slip of their sake, the two rested their heads on the table and fell asleep. How in the hell was he suppose to get them to the ship. Luckly the door opened and Jozu appeared. "Ace's asleep?" he questioned and shook his head. Sabo asked him to go find the missing captain so he checked the dinners first and then the bars.

"Yeah, can you get them. I will go pay their bills...which I better get back," Marco said. He rested his drink on the table and stood up.

Jozu picked the two drunk bodies and carried them over his shoulder. "See you on the ship," Jozu said and left the bar.

Marco nodded at his crewmate's statement and pulled out his wallet. He headed to the bar where a single woman drank. She had a brown hat over her wild black hair. A scar stitched under her eye. And he, who was too busy looking at her, knocked her drink down. "Oh, sorry," he muttered as he grabbed some napkins from the counter. He handed some to her and wiped the mess on the table. He sat the cup back up in place.

"It's no problem, this shirt was dirty anyways," the girl stated. She wiped her shirt, but soon gave up.

Marco's lip lifted and he smiled at the lady. He started talking with her with him carrying on most of the conservation. Most of her answers were nods, or shakes, and one word answers. He didn't notice her silence since his mouth kept moving. He told about what he seen in the city and he even mentioned his friends; which he regretted but she gave a slight laugh. It was just easy to talk to this girl; that was what he thought at least.

A hand came through the crowd and tipped her shoulder. Her slight smile on her face disappeared and her voice came rashly. "I have to go now."

"Then I will see you around, uh..." He didn't even know her name, but no answer came once she stood up. When she stood up, he saw her uniform. "She's a...marine...?" he stated in surprised. He shook his head and watched her as she disappeared in the shadows. A waiter appeared in front of him behind the counter. Marco nodded and remembered his task. He took out his money and paid their bill.

He better get his money back.

**Well, this chapter wasn't in the original story, nor the romance between Marco and Luka. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

Shirani-Chan: Thanks, and hopefully this ends up better than my first attempt.

EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: Are you talking about Lunacii's stories? I think that was where I first gotten the idea of doing my own, but I can't remember; now that I read the summary of hers, my first draft seems oddly familiar (I was bad at coming up with my own ideas :/ ). And I will finish this story, it's a big pet peeve of mine.

Rosekittylol: Thanks and I'm trying to redo the whole thing since I know I missed up with the first version. So yeah, thanks.


	3. Captain's Orders

Marco couldn't stop thinking of the young girl he met last night. He even smiled when he woke up to madness. Ace was hammering his forehead because of his hangover, and Thatch wasn't much better. He was groaning and moaning from his bed. Sabo rolled his eyes at the two antics and didn't even question Marco when he entered the kitchen. As long as Marco was up and not acting like a child, like other people, then Sabo didn't ask about Marco's disappearance.

But he did question the disappearance of a specific woman. Robin. "Where is she? Didn't she go shopping with you, Jozu?" he asked the huge man.

"She did, but she saw something in the window and told me that she would met back up on the ship," he shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know much about that girl, so everything she had done was a mystery to him. She was just a girl who came onto their ship and asked to travel with them for the time being.

"Girls…" Thatch muttered and yanked his hair. He entered the kitchen and grabbed a cup of milk. He sat down across from Marco and gulped the drink down.

"It's understandable if she wanted some alone time, away from a ship full of boys," Sabo stated with a shrug. He grabbed Thatch's drink and took a drink.

"Hey!" Thatch grunted, but his head rolled and he cried in pain.

Jozu chuckled and elbowed the young man. "You should go light from now on."

"I barely got a buzz."

Marco side glanced the chef, "Like…that's what you said before doing the hokey pokey with Ace."

Sabo spurted the milk out of his nose and quickly wiped it away. He couldn't help but laugh at the image of Ace and Thatch dancing while drunk.

"Sabo…" Ace moaned from the room.

"What is it?" he questioned.

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Counts on what it is."

"Go to the Gallery-La for me."

"Can't you do anything?" Sabo rolled his eyes. For once, he thought he was going to have a day of relaxation.

"Come on, its captain's order."

"Then act like one."

"Oh!" Jozu smiled and waited for Ace's comeback; which sucked.

"Please! For me…Ouch!" Ace rubbed his head and moaned.

Sabo finally agreed with a mutter under his breath. He stood up from his chair and looked those around the table. "Who's going with me?"

Thatch looked at him as if he was serious, "Not me."

"I got things to do," Marco stated before leaving the table. By things, he meant looking for that black haired he met last night.

Sabo looked at Jozu, who just snorted and stood up. "I guess I will…don't really have a choice in the matter, do I?"

"Nope."

…

Jozu carried the bag of money. Sabo had no idea of the amount Ace discussed with Gallery-La, but he wanted to be ready in case. The ship was in need of repairs, and he wasn't certain of when they would find another ship repair place. From all of the research he did with Marco, their next destination was filled with tales of strange events; and there wasn't a repair place.

They ended up in front of the wooden gate and waited for someone to show up. Soon Iceberg appeared and stared at the two. "What do you want?"

"Repairs."

"Same pirates from yesterday?"

"Spade Pirates," Sabo stated.

Iceberg nodded. "Someone was sent and looked at your ship. I believe he chatted with your captain…why are you back?"

"Our payment plans hasn't been settled. I came to finalize the deal," he pointed to Jozu who held the bag of money. Sabo took the bag from the huge man and turned to the mayor.

"Could you wait out here? I will go and get someone…" he itch his head. Kailfa opened the door for him and he went inside.

Sabo sat the bag on the ground and leaned against the gate. "Hopefully this doesn't take long. I wanted to check the city." Jozu nodded to Sabo's statement. He only saw the Shopping District and not much more than that.

A shadow appeared behind Jozu. It disappeared and another one appeared next to Sabo. The blonde glanced behind him, but it was too late. The bag was already gone. "What? Where did it go?"

Jozu's eyes darted through their surroundings, but the theft was already in the boat. It was a large man with goggles. "Crap, they seen us," he muttered to his passenger. The other theft laughed and pulled on the Yagara's reigns. "Go!"

Jozu raced to the ship, but it was already far beyond his reach. He cursed and wished for once that he could enter the water without being affected.

"Franky Family!" a girl's voice yelled. A marine appeared from an alley and reached the boat before going downstream. They were caught within a magical invisible box that suddenly appeared. She pulled them to the edge and threw them both out. She grabbed their hands and handcuffed them. The bag full of money was tossed over the stream and into the hands of Lucci who just exited the Gallery-La.

"Here," the pigeon stated when the man handed the bag back to Sabo; who was staring at the young lady.

The lady looked up but her face was covered by the brown hat. "Be careful with that," she told the two men before leaving the site. She dragged both of the two thieves away.

"Sabo?" Jozu questioned once he came back. He waved his hand in front of Sabo's face.

"That girl…" he muttered.

Lucci glanced at Sabo with a curious stare, but his face stayed emotionless. "That's one of the marines who run the place," the pigeon answered.

"I think…I know her…"

"Are you feeling okay?" Jozu questioned.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? It's just…I can't remember from where…" He itch his head. Her face, he just couldn't place it within his memories. Maybe Ace would know; he thought. Ace shared most of the memories with him, so maybe he could. Sabo just had to wait for Ace to get over his hangover.

"Come in," the pigeon stated as Lucci opened the door.

"Why is the pigeon talking…?" Jozu questioned under his breath. Strange things were going on and he didn't know what it was.

…

The two members of Franky Family escaped from her grasp, but she didn't go after them. They didn't escape, really, she allowed them to leave. She never captured them for long. All they needed was a good scare from time to time.

Even though she was trained in the ways of Extreme Justice, it all went out one ear. She had her own ways of doing justice, and as long as the other members of CP9 didn't know about it, she was in the clear. She would probably get a comment from Lucci about her actions today, but it was too late now. As long as he didn't report it to the higher ups about her actions, and she was fine.

But the thing that pained her stomach was that blonde. Sabo. He was here, and he seen her. She crossed her fingers and hoped that she wouldn't encounter him again. And she hoped not to see Ace either. She must remain hidden from their sight, or else her last ten years were for nothing.

She rounded the corner and slammed right into another blonde. She stood up and helped the other back onto his feet. "Sorry about that," she muttered.

"You…from last night," he stared at her.

She bite her tongue; thinking if she should tell her name to the man or not with what happened with Sabo. But it would look strange if she didn't give her name; so she settled on a nickname. It was better than anything with all the drama going on. "Just call me…Lu."

"Lu? I'm Marco."

**Whoa! Sabo seen Luka! For once, I finally gotten the crew down, and Luka used her devil fruit; which may sound lame, Hako Hako no Fruit The whole concept is based on the idea of boxes. She can create small/large boxes within thin air. More about this will be explained later on. Ace, since he's wearing Luffy's strawhat, is going to have no devil fruit. Just strength.  
**

**Shirani-Chan: It's a much slower pace than the first draft, but this is my usually pace (at least I think so). Thanks for reading!**

**one piee: The pairing won't change, but it's going to be unfocused for a while (maybe). You read the first story? Thanks for reviewing.  
**

**917brat: Thanks a lot, and hopefully this keeps your interests.  
**

**EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: I haven't been reading stories lately, but I do believe that it is. But her CP9 stories hasn't been updated for a year, I believe.  
**

**Darkspider: I always liked this setting since it's when things start to get dark and bloody; and Fem!Luffy is like my go-to thing. Things made take a turn though, seeing as how Robin disappeared from the ship without much notice; and it doesn't seen like any of the CP9 is involved..yet. And Sabo noticed her first; well, after Marco. Thanks for reviewing your thoughts.  
**


	4. Memory Girl

"I should've asked for your name last name," Marco stated in a calm tone. After thinking about her all last night, he was at disbelief that he found her so soon. He has been searching since he exited the ship, but he would never think he would run into this quickly. His eyes glazed at the young woman. She was more beautiful than last night; where she was covered in shadows from the dimly lit room.

"I would have never thought you are a marine."

Luka shifted her shirt, "Even though it's stated firmly on my uniform."

He chuckled and stretched his limbs behind his back. "I may have to get my eyes checked," he joked.

They talked to each other as friendly and playful. Marco did most of the talking, like he did the night before, with some side comments from Luka. With the traffic in the road, they walked down the sidewalk together while still communicating. People passed them and paid little attention to the couple. Some gave second glances from the sight of their marine captain, Luka, with a boy; but they didn't question it. They thought it was sweet, or that the boy was a criminal.

They walked pass little stores on the streets of Water Seven. A yagara bull appeared in the canal and watched the two. He made noises and splash the people near him; trying to get the attention of the marine, but with no luck. She was focusing on the bystanders and the man she was listening too.

…

"Deal," the blonde stated as he took Kaku's hand and shook. Jozu counted the sum of money and gave it to shipwright. He closed the suitcase and lifted it up from the ground.

Sabo had gotten the shipwrights to lower the final price of the repairs; even though it was a little. The price was small that the two suitcases were still pretty filled.

"We will have it done in a jiffy," the young man smiled and pocketed the sum of money. He handed Sabo a paper for the deal and had him sign it.

The blonde looked at the older gentleman and questioned the man's speak pattern. After the paper was signed and money exchange, the two members left the Gallery-La. Jozu took the suitcases with him and headed to the ship. Sabo stayed within the city. He needed to check up on some things. Robin and that mystery woman.

Ace was probably still experiencing his hangover, so it was a good time to ask him about the black haired woman he seen today. He will wait later on that information. For now, he would search the city with his own eyes; searching for the marine woman.

And he still had Robin to look after. She disappeared on the day they docked the island without any warning or signs. From what Jozu informed them, she just left him and disappeared for the rest of the night. Even if she was a strange woman, she would have noted some signs of leaving the small crew; and Sabo wanted to check on it. Robin was a fine member who just joined their crew out of nowhere.

He walked down the street and past the bridge. He didn't really know where he was headed, he just went. Maybe he should have asked Marco to join the search with him, but the man already had his own plans.

Then there was always Ace and Thatch. Neither of them was in a good enough condition to even be let out of the ship. That should teach them to limit themselves.

He didn't know how, or when, but he ended back up to the dock where the boat was docked. He itch his head and decided to check on his brother in case he did something stupid; like drowning in his own vomit. The ladder onto the ship was down from someone's use. He figured it was Jozu, who he sent back earlier. He sighed in displeasure of the man not putting it back in place, but for now he didn't mentioned it. He climbed up the ladder and onto the deck of the ship.

Two black figures were standing in the middle of the ship. Their backs were turned to Sabo. "This is Fire Fist Ace?" one of them questioned. The other one nodded. "Let's get him!"

Sabo body vanished within thin air and he appeared in front of the duo with his bo staff unsheathe. "Who are you?!" he blocked their swords with his own weapon. Their swords clunked and they pulled back; away from sleeping Ace.

"You asked who we are?" a man in a tin suit stated. "We are bounty hunters. Kids cry in fear when they see us! Mothers hid away in fright! We are the Franky Family!" Zambai pointed his swords wards Sabo, "The 80-million bounty on your and Fire Fist's head is OURS! Then we will hide in the ship and ambush the others!"

The other one laughed, "We're going to be rich! We're so lucky!"

Sabo rolled his eyes and used his technique once again to appear behind the duo. He spun his bo staff and, the dust and wind turned into a tornado. He aimed it at the two men, and then they were thrown off the ship and into the ocean.

Sabo bite the inside of his cheek and questioned why the uniforms looked so familiar to him. Then he remembered. It was the same group from earlier today, who tried to steal all of their savings.

Ace rose from the ground and held his head. He looked at Sabo and groaned, "Can't you be quieter!" He lie back down on the ground and fell back to sleep.

"Yeah, it's not like I just saved your life…" the blonde stated mostly to himself. He turned away from his brother and into the kitchen. The two suitcases were piled up on each other; both of them empty. Sabo cracked their treasury, and sure enough, Jozu stored the left over money within it instead of leaving it within the two cases.

The blonde moved pass Thatch's room; in which he heard moaning with a mix of snoring. He ignored the sleeping fellow and grabbed him something to fill his stomach. It was almost noon since he started errands. At least now he could get a break and have a snack.

**Sorry about the wait. I have been having diffuicfties in writing anything for the last week. Also, to make one thing clear, Luka's hat (where she gave Ace), Ace fireproof it so he could wear it without burning it. Sorry if it seems it's going slow, I'm trying to set the setting and get the plot set up. **

**What do you think of Sabo's technique? Can ya guess what it is? **

**The Corrupted Hobo: I have never heard of that manga (I should check it out), but it's mostly based off Kekkaishi (manga/anime) and the Box Ghost (Danny Phantom). **

**Shirani-Chan: Pacing is something I'm working on, so thanks for the feedback. **

**EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: What do you mean by why she stopped (I don't see where)? Ace and Sabo were around seven-eight when she left (she was about ten). **

**Kickassdani: Thanks for your review, and it will get more interesting later on :P**


	5. Spotted Devil

After his lunch was over with, Sabo sat up and hesitated before shaking Ace. "Come on, Ace. You can't sleep all day!"

The man moaned and his eyes finally opened. "What the fuck do you want?!" He pushed Sabo's hands off him and wiped his eyes.

"It's the afternoon. Time to get your arse up."

"Afternoon?! I told Marco I wanted to sleep till noon…" He looked around the deck and gave a curious look.

"He's gone. Had business…wait, wasn't you awake when he left?"

"I don't know…" He itch his head and stood up from the ground. The sun was lowering down into the sea; and Water Seven citizens started to light up the city. He couldn't believe he was asleep that long. Usually he would have been up within hours or so. He glanced back at his brother. "What did you want?"

"I needed to ask you something." Sabo paused and consider his question. After the whole ordeal at the shipyard, he couldn't stop thinking about that black haired woman. It was like she came from a memory, but he couldn't place it. "Do you remember a woman who has black hair…and devil fruit powers?" He didn't know how to exactly explain the power she used to capture Franky Family.

"Robin? You forgot about Robin?" Ace laughed. "Was that all?"

"Not her, Dumbass! I… Well there was this girl in the city-"

"You have a crush on her?"

"Stop interrupting me!" Sabo slapped him on his head. "This girl. I felt like I knew her. I thought maybe you would know since we shared the same adventures."

Ace took this into consideration unlike the first time. From the way Sabo was acting, he meant what he was saying. But when he thought of black haired girls, he could only think of Boa the Warlord; which didn't count since neither of them saw her. "Do you remember anything else about her?"

He thought it over and jumped a little when he found his answer. "She had a brown hat…and a marine uniform on."

Only one person popped into Ace's mind. But it couldn't be her. She was training with Garp, so there's no way she would be out here in Water Seven. Ace grabbed his strawhat and fingered the fabric of the hat. Even if it's impossible, he suggested it. "Could it be…Luka."

Sabo's jaw dropped. It made sense but he didn't make the connections. But this girl didn't act like Luka that they knew and loved. She barely even looked at him, or talked. She just came in and foiled the Franky Family's plans before leaving. "It can't be Luka. This girl…wasn't Luka. Wouldn't Luka get all happy and stuff? This girl barely even noticed my existence."

"Who else do we know is a marine girl with black hair? I don't know how she has a devil fruit, but still, it's Luka. Everyone else we met doesn't even come close. You say she's a marine? Then tomorrow I will have a look myself!"

"If she's here…would Garp be here as well?"

Both of the brothers shivered and hoped that fate wouldn't play that card on them.

If Garp was there…

It's terrible just thinking about it.

…

The couple soon separation and went their own ways. The sun was on the horizon and it called for the end of her shift; so she said goodnight to Marco. She headed to the warehouse where she kept her items. Unlike her, Marco was heading back to the ship to rest.

As soon as she opened the door, she discarded her jacket before the door shut and she felt eyes on her back. She bite the inside of her mouth and knew what was coming. From the incident that happened earlier this day. With Sabo.

Luka inhaled and slowly turned around to face the large man. His face was emotionless, but his eyes held so much power. Those dark lines that engulfed her into darkness.

"Monkey," Lucci stated her last name. She gave a roll of her eyes, but instead sighed.

"Lucci."

"What was that today?"

"You mean at the shipyard? The Franky Family stole that man's loot and I returned it. Shouldn't you be happy that the money is heading to your department instead of Franky?"

"That boy. He said he knew you."

The black haired girl cursed. Even if she covered her face, Sabo still noticed. Now he knew about her and it wouldn't be long before he would try to search for her. But she had to face the problem in front of her. Lucci. "He was mistaking me for someone else."

"CP9 is a secret government base. If word gets out about our members then the balance will be uneven."

"I know that already."

"Measures must be made to keep this base a secret. Our mission will be a failure if our plans get out." Bloodlust entered Lucci's eyes and the hair on Luka's neck stood up.

"You are not killing him. I will lie low; out of sight. Just don't kill him," she paused and added to that statement, "…or anyone on that crew."

The huge man narrowed his eyes at the girl and nodded. But if the boy knew too much, he will be dealt with sooner or later; along with Luka. Both of them will be assassinated if actions are taken. Nothing on this mission must fail. Not when they are so close. He didn't know of the connection between the man and Luka, but he still didn't like it. Assassinates are disconnected to emotions and others.

The large door opened, and Lucci moved quickly before it slammed on him. Kalifa stretched her limbs and walked through the door. She looked at Luka, and then at Lucci. It was as if she just entered into a tense debate.

And then Kaku walked through the door. He nodded at Lucci, Kalifa, and Luka. "Today was something," he uttered before heading to the back of the warehouse.

The warehouse wasn't a normal storage unit. It acted as the group's base while staying within Water Seven. It was a small space with five main rooms. The front room, in which had the only exit, was also the kitchen. Each member had their own little living space within the unit. And one shared bathroom. They lived together for six years, including the stay at CP9 base, and they were well while living together.

Kaku opened the door that contained his small bedroom. "I'm going to bed early. We got a big load tomorrow from the new pirate crew."

Luka and Kalifa nodded. Repairs weren't in their job description, unlike Lucci's and Kaku's. All four members had a position close to Iceberg and the two girls were lucky. Luka was a complete klutz when it came to repairs, and Kalifa didn't want her nails chipped.

"Was that all?" Luka questioned to the large man. He gave a huff and nodded. She turned around and headed to her room. She needed a break from all of the events taking place.

Kalifa stood in the middle of the living room as Lucci walked into the bathroom. She had no clue what just happened. It was unusually for Luka to get in trouble, unless it was concerning something she damaged, but it was rarely. All she knew was that she missed something big and that something bad was going to happen. She didn't know what, though.

The five members, including the pigeon, slept in their bedrooms for the most part. Luka was laying in her bed looking at the ceiling. She wished this storage unit had windows or something to glaze at, but it didn't. The unit was plain as it can be; and windows would gave away their position. She tapped her fingers onto the bedframe and rolled over.

She could hear the snores coming from the rooms beside hers. Those didn't bother her. It was the silence that did.

Ace.

Sabo.

Those names kept repeating themselves in her mind and she rolled over once more. This time she fell off the bed. As soon as she hit the floor, the door opened.

"What happened?!" Kalifa questioned. She looked around the room in her pj's before exhaling. "You just fell. I thought something happened…" she yawned.

Luka stood up and rubbed her bottom. It hurts from the impact of the hard wooden floor. "You can go back to bed, Kalifa."

The woman stayed in the doorframe. She crossed her arms and it appeared as if she was about to say her famous catchphrase, but she didn't. She sighed before speaking. "What happened with you and Lucci?"

"Nothing. Just a misunderstanding," Luka stated. Within her days of being a CP9 member, lying became one of her strengths instead of weakness. It took a lot of practice to get to this level without sweating.

Once again, Kalifa sighed. She thought something huge happened and it would be worrisome if the two of them fought. A divide. Kalifa nodded and turned around. "Goodnight. Oh, and that boy with you today, he's not that pretty, but he's still cute."

Luka froze in place while Kalifa giggled before shutting the door.

In this group, secrets between each other were a big no. As of now, she was carrying more than she could handle that one of them slipped. She didn't even notice Kalifa. "Oh fuck…" she moaned before lying back in her hard bed.

**I should really start on my homework... Oh well. I really wanted more interaction between the CP9 members, and more about them (since this story is lacking that). I may even have more between them later. Like a sis-romance between Kalifa and Luka. Or some build up with Kaku and Luka (since Kaku hasn't been doing much). Thanks for reading!**

**Shirani-Chan: I should really have a schedule-thingy set up instead of all of these random updates :P Thanks for reviewing!**

**iAsajsd: He's going to eat...his lunch... Lol, well, here's the answer then!**

**EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: Oh yeah. She hasn't updated since April. And the CP9 story hasn't been updated in a year (I looked on her profile). I think she's still on here (reviewed on one of my stories couple months ago), but hasn't updated anything lately. **

**kickassdani: Hm...that wasn't really short (jk). Sorry for the lateness of this chapter (I have a bad habit of uploading at last minute)**


	6. Coffee Tastes Bad

The sun rose over the building tops of Water Seven. Birds sang their lovely song before getting eaten by Seakings. The crew slowly rose from their rest. Each of them had their jobs to do today. Some of them were important, or just time consuming. There was still three days before their ship would be repaired.

Marco was hoping to visit his lovely lady once again and visit the city's bar. He was going to search around the city, not for her, but for the views. Ever since he gotten to this island, she has occupied his mind; but now he wanted to experience the heights of this city before they sat sail once again. Maybe the two of them could go on a stroll throughout the city if he found her.

Jozu was checking the ship's condition before heading off to party with the local ladies with Thatch. He had seen from swelled up from yesterday and wanted to ask their hand in a dance before the dance rested. He wanted to show off his fine moves before taking his leave.

And Thatch just wanted to spend a night with one of them. One night in their beds; of course. He had his moves already planned from the start.

And lastly the two brothers, the highest ranking on the crew, were on a hunt. Unlike the others, they, or Sabo, were first awake in the morning. Sabo woke Ace from his sleeping state. They were on a hunt for a childhood memory that been with them since they were only nine years old. This was a matter that wouldn't leave them till they saw her in flesh. They were searching for their missing sister; Luka.

Marco was sitting at the table drinking his hot streaming cup of coffee when Sabo and Ace walked into the room. He looked up from his glass at the drowsy captain. "What are you doing at this hour?"

He wasn't questioning Sabo, who joined him in his cup of coffee in the mornings, but he was questioning his young captain who rather sleeps in.

Ace hit his head on the cabinet and groaned. He rubbed the spot and turned around to look at Marco. "He's just showing me something."

"So you're actually getting out of the ship?" Marco taunted. Yesterday, Ace stayed inside of the ship all day because of his hangover.

"Yeah. After I get some of that muddy icky stuff."

The pineapple head man nodded. "It's actually quite good, this coffee."

"Whatever." He turned around and grabbed a cup from Sabo.

"Hey, that's mine!"

It was too late. Ace already took a drink of the coffee and he ended up spitting it out. "What the fuck is that?!" he wiped his tongue with his waist; trying to get the taste of wood and salt out of his mouth.

"Told you," the blonde laughed. Marco joined in and chuckled at the captain's mistake.

Ace pulled the cup from Sabo's other hand. Before taking a sip, he glared at Sabo. "You better not poison this."

"If you don't like coffee, then don't drink it. Simple as that."

"If I didn't have to get up this early, I wouldn't have it." He finally took a sip of his coffee. Instead of salted wood like Sabo's, his tasted sweet with a soured tip. He still couldn't see how these two could drink coffee everyday.

The blonde took his drink and wiped the lid of it; where Ace took a drink from. He then gulped the hot liquid and sat down at the table. Since the boat was being repaired, they rented a hotel room where everyone had to share a bedroom; except Marco who slept in the bedroom. Luckily, Thatch and Ace were over their hangovers so they could transfer to the hotel. "So, what are your plans?"

"Just sightseeing. That's about it," the older man gently stated.

"That sounds boring," moaned Ace.

"Well, at least I'm not hanging out inside all day because of a hangover, am I?"

Ace looked away and took a gulp of his coffee. "Shut it, Pineapple."

Marco rolled his eyes and emptied his cup. He sat it in the sink, "I guess I'll be the one leaving first. See ya later." He marched out of the small dining space and out the door.

"I been wondering where he's been going for the last few days…" mumbled Sabo. "Usually he stays on the boat with Robin when we visit an island."

"Maybe he found a bird to mate with?" Ace suggested with his crude humor of Marco's state. Sabo couldn't help but chuckled at Ace's joke.

"But, shouldn't we get going?" Sabo questioned once he was done with his cup of coffee. Ace nodded and slowly lifted himself from the counter. If this wasn't Luka, he was going to kill Sabo for waking him up this early for nothing.

The two finally lift their hotel room. They had a view of the huge bottom half of the city. They could view the storeowners opening their shops and stations for the new day to come. Fathers were leaving their homes to get to their jobs at Gallery-La.

Ace and Sabo slowly walked down the staircase and ended up on the city's street. They looked at the river where their Yagara Bull was suppose to be. "Guess we will just have to walk."

"We paid for it all week. Bad service. I'm gotta charge that Bull," mumbled Ace.

"Lighten up, Grumpy."

Ace shook his head and crossed his arms. "So which way, Know-It-All?"

"Hm…by Gallery-La?" he questioned. That was the place where he saw her. That should be their starting point. "Wait, it you have any valuables, make sure they are safe."

"Why?" Ace questioned. He narrowed his eyebrows at Sabo's order.

"There's a gang of thieves around this town."

This caused Ace to laugh his head off. "You only…been here…for two days…yet now you're the expert of this city? Haha!"

"Fine. If that's what you think," he rolled his eyes. _'Not like I saved your life yesterday from them. Huh?_' he thought.

The two of them walked down the street and passed the shopping district. They stopped and picked up a meal before actually going to Gallery-La. Shipwrights were already prepping for the new day. They uncovered the tarts and started the machines. Shouts and orders were order and then followed. From where the two boys were standing, they were still amazed at the teamwork of the shipwrights.

They couldn't actually enter the dock till opening hours. They would only get in everyone's way if they entered. But Iceberg still exited the place. "What's your business?" he wondered as he scratched his rat's head.

Sabo itch his head, "Just hoping you could help us with something."

"What exactly?"

"Iceberg doesn't have time for small chat," thundered Kalifa. She walked in front of Iceberg and glared at the two of them over her glasses. "If you just want to waste someone's time, then go elsewhere. Iceberg is an important figure."

"We just want to get the name of someone."

"Then hurry up. You're wasting mine, and his time."

Iceberg rolled his eyes at his hot-tempered helper. "I know practically everyone who lives here."

"We are looking for a girl."

He wrinkled his eyebrows and gave a small smile. "There are fine batches of ladies all over the city."

"No, I didn't mean that way. This girl, she was a marine here," Sabo stated.

"You mean Captain L-"

"Iceberg! It's time for your meeting!" The woman interrupted Iceberg's next words. She turned around as if he was going to follow her, but he stayed in place. He just glanced back in her direction with a questioning expression. Kalifa didn't want the two boys to learn of Luka. She just had a gut feeling against the two boys, and she was going to listen to it. They could be the ones that caused Luka with problems that Kalifa seen last night. And what type of friend was she if she let them closer to their target?

"Lu-" he started but Kalifa interrupted once again, "She has a shift this noon," he finished before Kalifa came back and dragged him off.

"Captain Lu." Ace repeated. "That Luka's nickname. And that girl, she gives me the creeps. Why the hell was she in a rush out of sudden?"

"I told you so, and for that, I really don't know. She was kinda like that yesterday as well. But…it's Luka! It's been so freakin' long!"

"She's a Captain now!" Ace cheered in as well. He smiled at Luka's rank in position. Even after all those years under Garp, he would have thought she would have gotten a higher position. Maybe even apart of a strong marine unit. "I wonder what she will do when we find her. Heck, she would probably fall into the water from the shock!"

"Ace," Sabo's stopped in his tracks. His tone gave Ace's shivers. "Didn't I tell you already that I seen her, and she seen me! She just ducked down and left!"

"Because you look like a creep," he pulled his tongue out at the blonde.

"That's you," Sabo resorted. This was a daily routine of the two brothers. Just a fight waiting to happen between the two opposing forces, but neither of them wanted to start it when they were so close to finding their missing link.

…

She was heading to the mayor's house to get check in. She already had her apparel on since that was her daily attire. It was already close to her schedule hours, that she sailed on her Yagara Bull. The bull was sailing slowly down the river that lined Water Seven. She placed her head on the chair custom. It was so soft that she felt like falling asleep.

Last night she barely had gotten any shuteye because of her inflicting conflicts with Lucci and the new threat, her brothers. Her body relaxed and she almost shut her eyes but she saw a flash of blue.

Her heartbeat fasten and she keep her composure. She slowly shifted forward and opened her eyes. If she glanced back, then they would see her face. "Go," she stated slowly to her Yagara Bull. He looked back at her and nodded at her order. He fasten his pace and launched forward in the river.

"Ace! There!" shouted a blonde.

'Oh shit,' she thought. Now was not the time for playing it cool. She patted her Yagara's head, "Full speed down. Now!"

He fasten his pace to maximum speed. They cut across traffic and almost crashed into others.

"There she is!"

She shifted her hat downward and lifted her hand over the side of the block. A giant box was created right in front of the two brothers. They bounced back on their bottoms and jumped over the box as if nothing. One of them jumped onto the ceilings of the buildings that lined the street while the other stayed on the ground.

Sabo used soru and appeared closer to her. 'When did he learn,' she started to think, but that was something for later. She created two more boxes that floated right in front of Sabo's face. Sabo crashed into it and fell down along the roof.

"What was that for!" he yelled and quickly regained his pace.

'Can't you guys see I'm trying to help you?' she thought when she created another visible box that Ace tripped over. It vanished as soon as he fell.

"LUKA!" Ace yelled. "GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"

The citizens were hiding in their shops with glaring eyes at the two brothers. From their outlook, their city's protector, Luka, was the one being chased by foul pirates. They started trying to trip the pirates in hopes of aiding Luka.

She rounded a corner and it all came downhill after that. Her Yagara Bull tucked his fins in when it started going downstream. They flew through the air and landed to the bottom. The two pirates stood at the edge and looked down. Even they couldn't make that jump, unlike Kaku.

Ace looked at Sabo. "That was absolutely Luka. But why is she running from us?"

**Well, Luka was going to met Jozu in this chapter, but I added too much bromance between the two brothers. His part was going to be small anyways, so yeah. Maybe I can fit him later since he is a fun guy, as is Thatch and Marco. Thanks for reading. **

**Also, I like to give a shoutout for the new story I'm helping with. Upper Echelon. Give it a read and a review…please**** :)  
**

**EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: That ended up being a chase ;P Luka just loves her privacy. **

**general yumi: the ones that I usually find are left unfinished, so that's why I started this once again. These are my favorite type of stories. Thanks for reviewing~!**

**iAsajsd: Plot started since Sabo seen Luka (two chapters ago?). I'm just writing real slow since there's going to be a lot of dark stuff to come.**


	7. Brown Hat vs Strawhat

"_You can't join my crew," said the black figure. He hutch over the counter; not even looking at the young girl. He picked up his fork and continued eating. _

"_Is it because I'm a girl? I don't have no boobs yet, and I can cut my hair. That way I would look like a boy!" She argued with the older gentleman. She wasn't going to take a the man's answer until he accepted._

"_No. Gender isn't a problem. But still you are more male than female," he said under his breath. "It's because you're a hammer." The red haired started laughing. _

_The girl pouted; she always hated her gender. She wished she was a boy since they have all the fun. Every time Garp would visit her, he would bring a group of boys for her to marry; something that she wasn't going to do. And if the pirate taught her, she will be able to swim. Problem solved. _

_The door crashed open and a group of bandits walked inside. The leader got up in Shank's face and started insulting the pirate. All she could hear were blurs. But then the bandit smashed the sake bottle that Shanks was handing to him, and the left the bar. _

_"Let me clean it," Makino offered as she grabbed a rag. _

_"No, it's my fault," he chuckled. Luka stood there with her rage built up. She yelled at Shanks and left the bar; leaving the place quiet. "What's wrong with her?" Shanks questioned. _

_Days passed, and Luka sat at the counter. "Are you bored without Shanks around?" the young woman asked. _

_Luka bite her chicken leg and mumbled under her breath. Shanks was weak, she thought over and over again. But when she heard it from someone else, like the bandit leader who sat next to her, she unlease her rage. "Shanks' not a weakling!" she yelled. _

_The leader was not so happy with that statement. He grabbed the girl, and she was dragged across the ground. "You're going to be my hostage," he chuckled as he threw her onto the ground. He looked around, but all he seen were the citizens. The leader turned back and started kicking Luka; who started crying for help. "Devil fruit, isn't it?" he questioned once she created a weak box to block his attack; it broke on contact from just touching the heel of his foot. _

_Shanks shoot a bullet and all eyes were turned onto him. The bullet fired through the air, but never came back. "Let her go. I may not fight when I'm split on, but once my friend is hurt, it's another game."_

_"So what?!" the leader spitted onto the ground. He wasn't afraid of that pirate; not until one of the crew members defeated his whole crew. "Fuck. Uh…SMOKE BALL!" _

_A ball was thrown down, and smoke appeared. Once it cleared up, the two were missing. The leader bought her onto a small boat and sailed out. "They wouldn't look for a mountain bandit in the sea!" he laughed at his plan, "Now, what to do with you? Hm…I have no need for you anymore."_

_He picked the small girl up and threw her over the boat and into the dark depths of the ocean. She tried to stay at the surface, but she could not swim; not when she had a devil fruit. "HELP!" she called out. She splashed and reached out for anything. _

_A mighty seaking appeared within the ocean. It circled around the boat and the young girl before raising its head and ate the bandit leader. The boat was destroyed as well as the leader. _

_And there was Luka. Just trying to swim against all odds. The seaking circled back around for the next target. Blood. Teeth. And the seaking ran away. _

_Luka was still alive. She was within Shanks' arm; safe. But Shanks wasn't so lucky. His other arm was gone. Blood colored the water. Luka did what she could; cry on his coat. "Sh-Shanks!" _

_Once they gotten back to the shore, they were surrounded by the citizens. Luka stayed close and cried. His arm was gone because of her. _

_Months fast forwarded and the great pirate left the small village. He gave Luka his treasured strawhat. A hat that was passed down to him by his ex-captain. _

_"Become Pirate King and give me back the hat after."_

_**…**_

Sweat poured down her face as she sprung up from the bed. She looked around her small room and tried to even her breaths. If this kept up, the others would be coming. Her hand lifted up to touch her head, hoping to feel the same material from her dream, but instead it was just bed hair.

Moonlight shined down from the high window, onto her brown hat. This was her replacement for the strawhat. A gift from her grandfather once she was welcomed into the ranks of CP9. It was a normal cap with patches of dark brown and light brown mixed together.

She never had dreams since her first killing. Every time she rested, it was blank. But now, since her brothers are back, she was shown that memory. Luka clawed her arm. Another promise that she failed to keep. But she will never regret this decision. Not when they were living her dream and her promise.

If this was going to be her position, then let it be.

She heard footsteps from other rooms, so she tensed her body and calmed her breathing; acting as if she was asleep. Kaku walked in front of her door and knocked, "Time to get up!" he yawned and walked away.

'_Close call_,' she thought before getting out of her bed. She placed her feet over the edge and chilled once the cold wooden floorboards touched her feet. She dressed herself in her normal attire that covered her lovely large bumps. Her hat was placed on top of her hair. Once she was finally dressed, she opened the door. Lucci already left, but Kalifa and Kaku was waiting for her. The two sat at the table.

"Captain Luka," Kalifa addressed.

"You can call me Luka...?"

"Those pirates are asking about you. Yesterday, one went to Gallery-La and asked Iceberg about you."

"And I heard there was a chase between you and a pirate," Kaku added.

'_Fuck,'_ Luka thought. She sat down and drank from the cup in front of her. She created a box under her feet and tried to relax in front of the two CP9 members.

"Lucci doesn't know...he has been working all day. He's trying to get that pirate out of this island as fast as he can."

"I can handle. It's just some pirate," she waved it off.

Kaku finished his cup of coffee and laid it on the table. He looked across the table at the black haired girl. "Who's looking for you. Sorry, Luka, but we can't have that happening again. I don't have work today, so I'm going to watch you and your surroundings."

"That wouldn't be necessary." Luka stood up from the table. She couldn't even drink the rest that was in her cup; so she poured it down the drain.

Kalifa nodded, "She's right. They know you two are close, so you will be able to walk with Luka in daylight. This way, you will see them coming."

"I don't me-" the black haired started, but the two members already decided on that. She tipped her fingers on the table; she was so close to trapping the two members here and now, but fought against the thought. It would deem her as a traitor.

…

_"SHANKS! SHANKS! Some rookie requested to see you." Lucky stated when he came to Shanks' side._

_"Go ahead, let them in," said Shanks. He turned and patted Lucky's back, "Calm down." _

_The crew member smiled and even his breathing before walking back. He allowed the two to entered and showed them the way to Shanks' camp. "Here's Captain Shanks," Lucky introduced the two. _

_Every pirate stared at the young man. Not at his face, but at the hat that pressed Ace's hair to his head. It was the strawhat; the same one that Shanks gave Luka. _

_Ace stepped forward and looked at the man with red hair. This was the same man that saved his sister's life; not a story he would have forgotten. "I'm Ace, captain of the Spade's pirate-"_

_Sabo nudged him in his side. _

_Ace turned and glared at his brother, who just pointed at the elder man sitting there staring at Ace. The freckled boy started again. "I came here to say thanks for saving my sister's life. Even if you don't remember it, it's because of you, that I have a sister." Ace stated; finally Makino's training was repaid._

_"As do I. Thank you, Shanks." The blonde bowed at the other man. _

_"You're Luka's brothers? She never told me she had brothers!" he said happily looking at his left stump that use to be where his hand was. So many memories were brought along just from that single glance. "How is she doing? And why do you have her strawhat?"_

_"Luka…plans changed for her, which is why she is not here," Sabo answered. _

_Ace crossed his arms. "As for the hat, it was given to me."_

_"Why couldn't she? Did she die?" a long nose man asked. Shanks took a drink of his sake and leaned forward. _

_"She is alive, that we know of," Sabo stated, but h was elbowed by Ace. "She's a marine now."_

_"That girl, a marine? Well, hell sure did freeze over then. I feel bad for their budget, with her trouble and food. Dahahahahaha!" The elder man stretched his limbs and laughed at the misfortune of the marines. They always said to break the pack from within. _

_The rest of the night was spent remembering the events that took place with the young black haired girl. _

_..._

Ace stared at his food. "There's no way that it's not Luka."

"How many times are you going to say that?" mumbled Sabo. He stirred his soup with his spoon and stared at the surface of the liquid. He heard a crash, and looked up. He sighed.

Ace has another fit.

The freckled face fell asleep right above his hot soup. Sabo counted to five on his fingers before Ace woke up and screamed at the hot liquid. He grabbed the napkins from surrounding tables and wiped his face off. "Should I get you floaties?" the blonde suggested with a smirk.

"Yeah, if you want to die."

Sabo rolled his eyes and picked up his soup. He allowed the hot liquid into his mouth, and slipped down the soup. "I told you it was Luka."

"Who would ever think she would be in this island. Heck, she could have been stationed somewhere different, and we wouldn't even noticed!" He made a ball with the used napkins. Ace leaned on the table and stared at Sabo. "I'm not leaving here till we get her."

"I'm not arguing that. I would regret it if we left before we found out about Luka. It's already been bugging me for days."

The door opened, and the two brothers stared at the door. Thatch walked out and sat down across from Sabo. "Hey Sabo, Ace. What are you guys talking about?"

"Nosy much?" Ace questioned.

Sabo pulled out his chair and left the room. "I will be leaving now."

"Buzzkill," mumbled Thatch. "Okay, whatever. Did Jozu tell you? He probably didn't, but we found some hot chicks. Marco already denied, so what about you?" He lifted his hand on the table and Ace high five him.

"In," he stated.

"Tonight. At the west dock. Be there, and bring some sake."

"Bring your own sake!"

"You don't pay me!"

"Oh."

**I had to pull back from the major event last chapter. This was mostly from my original draft, with a lot of edits. Turns out I thought Jozu was Vista, and Vista was that cross-dresser. My mistake. So, that's why Jozu taking a lot and talking to girls. I'm trying to get more interaction with the group, since I been focusing on Luka, Ace, Sabo and a little Marco.**

**Any ideas for devil fruits? I will give you a...cookie!**

**Shirani-Chan: Hehe, thanks a lot. I try. Which is weird since I mostly just do "What if..." questions for the descriptions; mainly because of my Pen Name. Writing romance is getting better for me (which is why I been making more dramatic stories instead of one about the two just falling in love). Let's just say, I have more than one favorite pairing when it comes to Luffy; just about all of them :P As for the crew bit, only Robin (from Luka's crew) is on Ace's crew. I changed everyone, while keeping the same amount of people. Robin is on Ace's because...NEXT CHAPTER! Franky may be added onto that, just maybe. Well, this was my first Fanfiction, and not my best. I love the story, so that's why I'm redoing it. This time with a main focus, and pairing. MarcoxFem!Luffy is one of my guilty pleasures, you could say; lol. Thanks for the review!**

**shinjojin: I'm not stopping till it's finished XD Thanks a lot!**

**Katr5432: Thanks, glad that you think so!**

**general yumi: Thanks for reviewing, and hopefully this was fast enough :P**

**kickassdani: Wasn't much of a meeting XD**

**EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: Yes, they were in...chapter 3? Hako Hako no Mi, or Box Box no Fruit. She can create invisible boxes! Awesome! I wanted to try something different lately, and this was in the first draft. Stolen idea from the Box Ghost (Danny Phantom). You got any devil fruit ideas :P ?**


	8. French Fries and Sake

_"Who's this?"_

_"Lucci."_

_"Oh good. I got some news so listen up."_

_"…"_

_The man sighed, "I want this mission finished. Kill Iceberg, get the plans, and then get out of there. I have gotten some problems with the higher up, so I want this unit back at the base by the end of this week."_

_"They will get done."_

_"I'm trusting you guys. Now hang up."_

_Lucci ended the call and placed the Mushi back on the counter. He yawned and moved through the house silently. _

_Tomorrow._

_Iceberg dies._

_…_

Kaku walked side by side next to Luka. His footsteps matched hers. They were in sync from years of training and fighting together; even though this was her first real mission.

His hat was pulled down over his eyes so those who were following Luka wouldn't notice him observing their surroundings. His jacket was zapped up over his neck while the chilly air breezed passes them. "Such a wonderful day," he mentioned.

She nodded to his statement, but didn't try to make a reply. She was patrolling a different path today, than she did yesterday. Luka make some deal with a lower rank to change their patrol routes for the rest of the week. She needed to get away from Gallery-La and whenever Ace and Sabo were staying. _'I don't want them finding those two,_' she thought.

The Longnose was a good tracker, a main reason why he was walking with her. His skills were still lower ranked compared to Lucci, who was working today.

"Hey, what about we get some food? It's about lunchtime." He pointed down the street to a small restaurant.

Luka opened her mouth, "I rather go to a bar."

"Fine by me, but you're paying."

The black hair girl nodded and made a u-turn. At least there she would be able to divert his attention for the time being. Kaku was a light drinker after all. They entered a low standing shack that housed a bar. It was different from the one she enters on regular nights; a good place to catch gossip of information.

"At the bar or a table?" Luka asked once she stepped inside. The bar was empty except for one single person chatting to the table next to him. There were some tables opened closer to the front. It was only lunchtime.

"Huh…at a table."

She chose the one within a corner. Her chair pushed back against the wall, and he sat across from her. A waitress came over and took their orders. "I would like a cup of sake."

"Just some water, and maybe…fries."

Before the waitress left, Luka halted her. "Forget the water and get him some sake instead."

"Okay," she nodded and left the two alone.

"B-But Luka," the brunette started.

"Relax. They aren't going to strike again anytime soon. Plus, we haven't really drunk together, have we?"

His eyes narrowed and he stared at the girl across from him. "We are under profiles, Luka." His pitch was low, that only Luka could hear him.

"For the last five years. I'm just," she paused, "You know, tensed. I wanna relax for a bit."

His eyes blinked, and opened his eyes. He trusted her on this. She was only a young girl after all, and this was her first real mission. He understood the stress she was going to; or thought she was. "Fine. But we have to keep quiet about this to the others. We would be sleeping with the fishes if they found out."

"Understood."

The waitress came back o the table and placed their drinks in front of them. She bowed and left to another hollering customer. Kaku ate a few fries before picking up his cup. He only took a small slip before going back to his fries. Luka eyed the cup of sake before picking hers up and taking a huge gulp. It was sour in her mouth, but she took another gulp.

The girl just needed to get Kaku drunk. She hated the feeling of being followed.

His hat came off of his head, and he laid it on the table. "Did you hear…about Nico Robi-" he paused and looked around. It didn't look like others were listening in, nor did anyone know who they were; this was another side of the city in which the two barely visit. "Crocodile was defeated, and she disappeared. No reports about her location since Alabasta."

He took a gulp of the sake and stirred his cup around. The French fries on his plate was starting to disappear. "Lucci looked at the reports and mapped the area she would be in; but other than that, the case went cold."

"Did someone look into it?" she questioned as she took a slip. She hasn't heard any of this since the happenings with pirates been taking up her time.

"One of the Admirals looked into that, but the report didn't state who," he chuckled, "All of them are busy, or absent-minded, so it's hard to know. But I heard over the Den that Kuzan went on a ride."

She stirred her cup and thought. Nico Robin, a girl who escaped the World Government and using historical information to cause chaos. But, it wasn't her problem. Not yet at least.

His cup emptied and the two ordered another one. His head became light-headed with each gulp. This was what she was waiting for.

The door flung opened and a group of guys with some ladies walked in. Quickly Luka hide her face behind a menu.

"Why did you guys drag me along…" moaned the oldest blonde. He pulled his chair out and sat down. His hands were placed on the table as he hunched over it.

Ace followed his lead and sat next to the blonde. His lady sat across from his; between the other two girls. Thatch brought chairs and sat next to Jozu and a red-haired girl. "Would you ladies want some cocktails?" he questioned.

"I rather have water…" a brunette stated.

A girl elbowed her, "Get her and me some cocktails."

"It's a party!" Thatch hollered. "Isn't that right, Marco?"

"I guess."

"Don't listen to him, he's just being gloomy," Jozu pointed a finger at the blonde. His chuckled once Marco grunted at his remark.

"He's just being a butt since his girlfriend couldn't come," Ace taunted. The boy gave the blonde a smug look.

"Girlfriend?" Thatch began to laugh. He never thought this old coon could get a girl.

"I think it's sweet," mumbled Jozu's girl. She leaned over the table and smiled sweetly at the blonde.

Thatch wrapped his hand around the red haired and gave her a flirty look. "Not as sweet as you~!" She giggled at his remark and blushed. He took this as a good sign and started flirting more boldly at her.

"I sure needed this," Ace yawned and slant back in his chair. His arms were placed behind his neck as his body relaxed in the soft seat.

"Uh, Kaku. What about we leave?" Luka questioned. "I don't think you should get anymore." She stood up and turned away from the guy's sight. She touched Kaku's shoulder and he obeyed. He slowly stood up, tipsy, and followed after her.

This was not what she needed. Not at all.

Marco glanced at the door when she opened it. His jaw dropped, and caused Ace and Jozu to look over there as well. Jozu had no clue, so he just took a slip of his drink; while Ace's chair flipped to the ground. He stood and looked at the black haired girl.

Luka cursed under her breath. She glanced at the two; Marco and Ace. Her legs became jelly that she couldn't move them. Luka shut her eyes and disappeared by using Soru. That was her only choice.

"Lu…" muttered Marco as his drink spilled on the table.

"Luka…" Ace stated. His feet went to move after her, but the doors were opened and she wasn't there. She was nowhere to be seen.

Thatch grabbed Ace's shoulder. "Ace? Acy? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Thatch grabbed his seat and sat it up for Ace to sit down once again. His form was shaking and pale from that one girl.

"That was Luka," he mumbled once again. "It was her." His fingers tensed and formed a fist that he pounded on the table with. His head shot up and he grumbled at those doors. She was here and he didn't even notice; and within one second she disappeared from his sight once again.

"Uh, ladies, could you give us some time alone. Ace is having a breakdown and it isn't looking pretty."

"Yeah, we will pay for the drinks," added Jozu. He slapped some money on the table before standing up as did Thatch.

Marco stayed in his seat. His face was emotionless like always, but with a hint of shock. '_Luka…?'_ he questioned. He only knew her as Lu, not Luka.

Thatch poked him. "Come on, Marco. DIdn't you want to leave in the first place?" He slowly stood up and followed the rest outside of the bar.

Ace leaned on the wall of the bar and stared intently at the ground as if it was talking to him. The guys gathered around him, but Marco; who was sitting near the corner. He was glazing at the night sky that was moments ago bright and sunny.

"Who's Luka?" the brunette asked his captain.

"An ex-girlfriend maybe?" questioned Jozu. He shrugged his shoulders when Thatch narrowed his eyes at him. "What? It was just a guess."

"No." He paused, "We need to find her fast before she disappears again."

"She already disappeared," stated Marco. She wasn't nowhere around.

Ace's head darted to his Firstmate. "You. You said her name…you knew her." His hand was set aflame at his rage. All of this time that he looked for her, missed her, this person knew her location from the start. All of these times that Marco left early was because of Luka. Just how long did the two know about each other. Just how long has she been an inch away from him.

Marco's cheeks began to flush, but the shadows hidden it. His life was on the line; Ace was raging mad. "I've seen her around the city and bumped into her a couple of times."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Ace screamed at Marco. His entire arm burned and glowed. "I've been looking for her!"

"How was I supposed to know? You never talk about it! She's just someone I met!"

"Calm down, Ace!" Jozu grabbed his shoulder. "He's right, can't blame him for not knowing."

"Fuck…but still….I wish...Fuck." Ace turned his back. He smacked his face; it was no time being mad at Marco, but still. He needed to find her. His legs ablaze; he ran. He ran down the street. He needed to find her. This was the second time he lost her, but he wasn't going to give up so lightly like last time.

…

Her legs wobbly that she couldn't stand; her body lay against the brick wall. Each breath was uneven.

"Luka, I go-t this. Go~ back to the hideout," Kaku slurred.

She nodded and slowly ran away. She ended up running into a wall before she got her balanced back. All common sense left her mind. She just knew she needed to get away.

Even if it meant leaving Kaku behind. She didn't even think that Ace would run into Kaku. This was all out of instinct. A gut feeling.

The girl used her technique, Soru, and disappeared around the corners. She tucked her hat down; covering her face from all to see. Her pace was light and soundless. _'Please Ace, don't follow me,'_ she thought. Her path was leading to a cliff; far away from the storage unit. That was where her feet was heading.

To Franky's House.

**TBC**

**Well, this is starting to get intense. Jozu gotten more lines, as did Kaku and Lucci. Lets just said Marco is going to have a tough time. Ace can burn, even though he has a Strawhat because; magic (and Sabo messed with it and made it flameproof). Thanks for reading, and leave a review~! **

**Shirani-Chan: He did ask why, just more calmly and Shank-like than others. I wanted to make him a bit concern about her state, but still able to make a joke. Figured she would be boyish and upset about her gender. Lucci's (and others) and Luka's relationship is like that, 'I don't really like-" Kaku cares for them, it's just he's under duties that he hasn't been able to spend any time with them. And I really need to get a sister-scene for Kalifa and Luka; because, like you said, it would be funny to write about. I really wanted Ace to feel a bit betrayed by Marco for that. Hehe, thanks for reviewing~!**

**NightHunterDeath: Then here's the chapter :P Thanks for reviewing and I'm trying to update weekly (even if it fails).**

**EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: Like Agua Agua fruit? That way she could swim. I heard a bit about that, and some kinda like a Death Death Fruit.**

**Katr5432: Thanks a lot for spotting that (I fixed it now). I was writing it late at night, so yeah, I totally forgotten about that. It's been decided on the Hako Hako no Mi (Box Box Fruit) since I already have her used it a couple times. I have a few ideas for her powers, but mostly it's for blocking/stealth (since she's an assassin). I'm trying to think of more moves. Thanks for the review!**

**herseybarrules: She has got some challenges along the way first before leaving the CP9...if she leaves hehe **

**general yumi: Any more pleases? Lol, thanks for the review and I'm trying to update weekly (which has been failing :P**

**shinjojin: All I can say, I try. Thanks for the feedback :) This chapter, Robin was mentioned, but she will have more focus in the next few chapters. **

**Awesome: Thanks, and here's your virtual cookie! Yum! Lol, and those suggestions reminded me of Pokemon (flying type, etc). Thanks for the suggestions. Debate? Tournaments? What? O.o**

**Devilgirl83: Fem!Luffy always been my favorite, as was the Marine/CP9 trope (that should be done more). Ace's crew, the Spades Pirates, was never named, nor mentioned a lot, so I had to use those that we knew of (Marco, Thatch, and Jozu). Thanks for the suggestion, I was asking since I'm thinking about giving Sabo one; which is still being decided on. Black Panther does sound like a good one. Hehe, I won't (for now). Thanks for reviewing~!**


	9. Square

The house on the cliff was booming out music and cheers. Cheers of enjoyment and fun. It was contrasted from the dark blue skies with strands of green. Dark clouds formed above the City of Water. Franky House was a house of a new beginning. A place where low lives go to live to get a second chance; a place Luka needed.

The girl ran through the tall grass. Her footsteps stomped the grass to the ground. A few puddles crossed her path and splashed against her uniform. Her marine uniform.

Her breath became uneven as she halted at the door. Her body leaned against the wooden pillar; trying to gain her breath back. Her thoughts were scattered from what happened moments ago. Ace. Kaku. CP9. Sabo. Marco.

She closed her eyes and pounded on the door. Inside of her mind, she counted until the door finally opened. A purple man opened the door; his chest was bared, showing his pale skin. "Huh-?"

Luka pushed pass him, entering the house. All those noises she could hear from outside disappeared. It was silent; something that rarely happens within the Franky House. All of the members were looking her way. Their mouths were twitching.

One single thought raced through their minds, '_We've been caught.'_

Schollzo stood silently in the doorway. He did not move, just stood there; shocked at the appearance of Luka. The only one that moved in the Great Hall was the leader. Franky lifted his bottom from his seat and moved his sunglasses. "What are you doing just walking in like that? Didn't we have a deal?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but she had no reason. She could have traveled anywhere else in the city, but her legs braced her here instead. "May I stay here for awhile?" She couldn't give him anything else; not without revealing her secrets.

Franky fixed his sunglasses back on his metal nose before sitting down. He grabbed his cup of cola next to him, and gulped it down. "Fine. Just this once."

Luka sighed and the party began again. She ended up in a corner of the house. Her vision had a good view of the hall. Of the guys dancing, Franky chanting, and cheers all throughout.

How can life be so peaceful when chaos just waited outside?

She envied this. A life without worries. A life without secrets. She sighed at her thoughts. The black haired girl didn't have time for longing for things she didn't have. Plans had to be made for when she left this shelter.

How to explain this?

If Kaku opened his mouth about the actions, then she wouldn't be alone. Lucci will send her back to Enies Lobby. This was already too much risk even having her here. But she did not want to leave. Leaving meant that her brothers would be left alone in this aftermath. Lucci won't allow any un-tied ends. Not when they are this far into the mission.

The Square Sisters, Mozu and Kiwi, mimicked Franky's dance poses. They were in sync with the cyborg that it was scary. Other members of the Franky Family moved with them or gulped down their soda. Two members ended up wobble over to where the black haired girl was.

Kiev and Zambai. The two handed Luka a drink and partied around her. "Wanted to party?" the spiky haired fellow asked with a burp.

Luka just shook her head and took a slip of the cola. Her drink spilled on her blouse when the girl seen something she never thought she would see.

Nico Robin.

The woman was seated behind Franky's chair. She was drinking a steaming cup of coffee. Her eyes were elsewhere as if regretting a decision.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Zambai yelled. The cold cola sat on the table in front of the place that Luka was seated moments ago.

"You scared her off!"

Luka quickly left the house. Once she thought she had some peace, something comes up. Like the woman who was going to destroy the world. Robin's face was pasted on bounty papers throughout the region. Luka knew details about her case, but this was the first time she saw the real one.

This was something she had to report to Lucci. Maybe then they would forget about her brothers and end the mission.

She wanted this over with before the two pirates had their blood slay. If that was too happen, she would never forgive herself. This may be selfish, but…

"They are my little brothers," she uttered under her breath, "It's my job to protect them."

…

"That girl…she has seen me…" noted Robin as she placed her coffee back on the table.

Franky waved it off, "She's just a marine! That girl saved the Franky Family's butt more than once…" he chuckled.

Kiwi nodded, "Every time that one of us gets caught…"

"…She lets us go with a warning," finished Mozu.

"She's not a danger, Nico Robin," Franky stated. '_Not as much as you are.'_

_..._

The three guys stood in the middle of the street. Their glazes were aimed at the ground as neither wanted to speak first. The blonde leaned against the wall and bite his lip. He wasn't suspecting this to happen. He just met a funny girl, and thought she was cute; so he ended up chatting with her a few times. Maybe even lusting after her.

But she was someone Ace knew. Someone he has been searching for. Maybe his girlfriend; Marco shrugged. "You two, go help Ace. I'm..."

"It's okay," uttered Jozu. "We will go. Just tell Sabo."

"Maybe he knows something," added Thatch.

...

Ace ran through the alley. He just knew it. He was following her path; just from using his brotherly instincts. This time he isn't losing Luka. Not now.

**This is probably the shortest chapter. Sorry for the wait (I suck at planning). Just life came up, and I finally finished one of my stories. So 's just say, for once, I'm loving Valentine  
**

**Thanks for reviewing~!  
**

aqua-empress: He's so friendly that it's hard not to be mad at him. I just really need more scenes with him. She just went because that's where her feet sent her.

NightHunterDeath: I'm trying not too. Got a lot of things going on. Thanks for reviewing though.

EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: She may have; that's probably why she ended up at Franky's.

general yumi: Took me a while, but it's finally here


	10. Clash of Fire and Air

Kaku leaned on the wall. Luka just left him there for a reason unknown._ 'People have been looking for her,'_ Kalifa's voice echoed through his dizzy mind. From what he seen, they must have been in the bar. That's the reason Luka flee. "I wish I never drank," he moaned.

All of his instincts and movements were slow; at least to what his normal speed was. If he even tried jumping off the roofs, which he did for his job, he would have fall the minute his foot left the platform.

His eyes slowly began to shut, but light entered the alley. Kaku narrowed his eyes against the shine; even moving his hat over his eyes.

"Luka!" the voice yelled. Finally a face emerged. It was a black haired man with a voice of tenderness as a baby.

Luka.

Kaku pushed his hands against the wall and stood up. All of his weight flowed to his feet as the ground shook in front of him. He moved his jacket above his chin. Wouldn't want the local police suspecting him if a young man went missing.

The boy ran ahead and halted right in front of Kaku. "Move it!" he stated. The flames along his fist began to move up his arms. Sweat glistened the young man's face; his breath was uneven as well.

Kaku's legs stayed in place; not moving an inch to allow the boy through. Shadows covered his face in mystery from the boy. Within a second, Kaku raced forward. His finger outreached and touched Ace on his chest.

Ace fell back from the sudden hit. In seconds, he was back on his feet once again. He grunted and glared at Kaku. "What was that for?!"

"What do you want with that marine?" Kaku stated as clearly as he could. He didn't even answer Ace's question.

Ace narrowed his eyes. That marine? She was more than that. "Just move it! I have nothing on you!"

"Answer or unless you want to get beaten."

"None of your business!" Ace raced forward and slammed his fire fist into Kaku's shoulder. The man was quick, but he didn't dodge the attack. Kaku slide across the ground a few feet; stopping himself by using his hand.

The man disappeared from his place on the ground, and reappeared behind Ace. He sent a jab at Ace's shoulder blade; using the same technique from before. Without his swords, Kaku could only fight hand to hand with the man.

Ace flinched and grunted. His shoulder dropped, but he turned around and pounded on Kaku before the man could disappear once again. "Why are you doing this?!"

Kaku cracked his fingers. He moved quickly and slammed his fists into Ace's side. This time Ace caught him. The fire went ablaze onto Kaku's fists. It scorched his skin, before he stopped the flames. "I am just a shadow in the night. A regular thug."

'_That voice…I remember it from somewhere…'_ Ace thought. But he could not remember where from. For all he knew, it could be someone he met on the first place of his journey. "Let me through already! I have to find Luka before it's too late!"

Ace charged forward. His body was set ablaze with red flames. Even the trash on the ground melted from the intense heat. Kaku's eyes darted across the alley. There was no water or anything he could use to put this fire out.

Unless he used Soru in a way to force Ace's devil fruit to burn out.

Kaku's figure disappeared into the wind and advanced to Ace's side. He continued, and went around Ace's back; coming to a whole circle. All of this happened within moments, and Ace's fire sparked. Eventually the flames died from the circular movements Kaku made that acted like a tornado.

"Who are you?! Why won't you move?! And stop making my flames disappear, Asshole!"

"I'm afraid that I can't do that," Kaku stated. The affects of the alcohol started to wear. Meaning, his speed was returning even though he couldn't tell so. Not when he was burning it out by charging into Ace.

Kaku jumped into the air and stayed once Ace unleashed a fireball at him. It glazed his left shoe, but completely missed the rest of his body. A spark burnt the bottom of his pants.

The black haired boy looked up at the man in the air. He had a bewilder look at his face_. 'Maybe this guy has a air-type devil fruit…_' he thought. That could explain why the man moved fact and had powerful hits without any outside help. As well as to why he was able to put out Ace's flames. That assumption may have solved one of the man's mysteries, but not the one that related to Luka.

Kaku moved forward with his two fingers out; ready to jab Ace once again. But Ace's chest turned into fire, and Kaku's fingers went through. Ace spread his fire around Kaku's arm; burning his sleeves. But that motherfucker still had his face hidden.

The man jumped back and glanced at the flames on his sleeve. He uttered under his breath a curse. The man was more than just fireballs. He must find another way to attack him because this approach wasn't working.

But the freckled boy charged forward. Kaku used Geppo and jumped into the air quickly, but Ace's fire sparked all throughout the alley.

Within the last moment, Kaku used the jab right in Ace's shoulder.

Both fell once the smoke cleared.

…

Sabo hutched over the table that was filled with dozens of papers. He may have left the hotel room and sneaked into the marine base. And he may have been lucky that the captain was nowhere to be found. But he wasn't lucky in his search.

The papers he collected were just cases that happened within the last seven years. He gotten a few profiles, but he ran out before he could find them all. He looked through the cases. Her name was only mentioned twice. Five years ago. Before that, it was Captain Cunningham; someone he didn't look much into. After Luka's name was mentioned, they switched to 'Captain' or 'Higher rank'.

This seemed a bit suspicious, but he couldn't look more into it. That's where the files ended. Unless if you counted how none of the newer reports showed Franky Family's name.

The profiles were the least of his importance. Not a shred of detail about Luka. It was just some underlings.

"Why isn't she here?!" he moaned as he threw another paper on the ground. "Why is it so hard to find you, Luka? Just what are you hiding…"

…

Luka jumped from roof to roof. From her route that went to Franky's House, she headed to the other side of the island; their storage base. But the sign of smoke distracted her. Her path turned and she jumped on top of a building to observe the source.

Kaku.

Ace.

Both of them were on the ground. Beaten and burnt.

'_They came into contact…'_ cursed Luka. All because of her stupid mistake of leaving. She could only hope for the best now. She had to block their view from her brothers; onto something else.

She closed her eyes and took a breath. It would look bad if she didn't take Kaku back. It would be hard explaining his burns though. Luka jumped down into the alley; knocking down a trash can as she did. She moved Ace's head onto the wall, before going back over to Kaku. She picked his body up with her magical box, and he moved through the air.

Someone entered the alley. His shoe knocked into a can, but Luka didn't glance. "Ace…" the man stated. He ran to his captain's side. His eyes looked up to see Luka and her box. The box lifted above the roof.

"Lu," he stated.

She started jumping from one wall to the other before getting to the roof. Leaving Marco behind. She didn't even glance at the man; at Ace's crew member.

She turned her back on too many people for one night. Marco was just another one on her long list.

Kaku's body flew through the air by Luka's box. And she jumped from one roof to the other, following it back to the base.

Marco lifted Ace's body. His glaze lingered on the sky where Luka just disappeared from moments ago. "Lu…" his voice was hoarse. The blonde dragged Ace's body away from the alley.

**Well, things are starting to be unrevealed and relationships are gonna be formed or broken. Thanks for reading, and I'm trying to get back on schedule with uploading :P That's about all I got to say, but thanks for reading and reviewing!  
**

**general yumi: She did save them a few times before, so they better be glad, hehe. Thanks for reviewing, and so am I. **

**.77: Heh, thanks a lot then!**

**aqua-empress: He's only doing his duty...but yeah it is. Right now she has a small part, but later she will be a main point. **

**EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: Well, I suck at having a schedule for these; keep breaking them. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm trying to update sooner. **


	11. Your Sister!

Marco opened the wooden door and looked at the three males in the room. They are gasped and him and at the man he was dragging.

"Ace!" Sabo grunted. As he gotten up papers flew off the desk and scattered throughout the floor. Thatch hopped off his seat and helped Marco to get Ace's body to the couch. Everyone of them circled around their captain. Sabo looked at Ace's face and back to Marco. "Just what happened?"

Marco looked down as the other two crewmembers stared at him. "I went looking for Ace…"

"Figured you would do that," Thatch stated. He told Marco to go back to the hotel because of what happened before, but the man never listens to him; even if Thatch was only trying to help him. "As if you were going to listen to me."

"We headed and searched around the hotel and the bar," Jozu added.

"Then we came back here when you finally showed up," Thatch finished.

Sabo looked at the three of them. "Full story now. Just what the fuck happened? I only left for few hours and this happens." Sabo turned around and pinched his forehead. Stress was starting to more as if he didn't have enough on his hands. So many things were happening in this island that four pirates couldn't handle by themselves. This visit was only supposed to get their boat repaired yet one of their crewmembers is missing and their sister appeared in front of them.

Thatch looked at Marco and Jozu before opening his mouth. "Okay. We were hanging out with these hot ladies, not the average villager woman-"

"I don't care about that," Sabo interrupted.

The cook rolled his eyes. "We went to this bar on the other side of town. Just started to order our drinks, and then these idiots' stands up out of nowhere. I don't know why, it was just this girl and boy getting ready to leave."

"They ran, and those two followed them out there. Turns out Marco knew of this girl so Ace got mad and ran after her," Jozu added.

"I think it was his girlfriend, or ex," added the cook but was ignored by the others.

Sabo's eyes landed on Marco for his part of the story. Marco finally said something ever since he opened the door. "I went looking for him and seen this fire coming out of one of the allies. I followed, and found him and this other man on the ground burnt and bruised."

"…Was this girl Luka by chance?" Sabo questioned.

"Yes," Marco nodded. He was more used to calling her Lu since that was what he believed was her name.

"Fuck!" the blonde cursed. He stumbled back to his seat and leaned his head in his fists.

"Can we get some answers?" Thatch uttered. "Who is Luka? What's the hell is going on?"

The blonde looked up from his fists. Shadows hide his eyes that held emotions of the past and anger. "Luka is our sister."

"Sis..ter…" shuttered Jozu.

"When we were younger, things happened and she was taken away. For ten years we haven't seen her nor heard anything about her. The last thing we heard about her was that she was becoming a marine…Gramps even said she was becoming the greatest."

Marco stood there. Out of all of the people he knew, he would have never guess she was related to Ace. There were similar in their appearances, but their actions were unlike each other. If taken into account that she grew up training as a marine, which could explain some. At least it was somewhat similar to how Sabo acted.

Jozu dropped his swords to the ground. He knew he wasn't one of the first to join Ace's crew but the two never talked about their sister, or about their families. Ever since they gotten to the ship, none of the crew talked about their past, if one didn't count Thatch's accounts of the girlfriends he had. But their sister as a marine? The two brothers were pirates; marines were the completely opposite of that.

"Then why the hell is she running away from Ace when she seen him?!" Thatch screamed. None of this made sense.

"That…I don't know." Sabo answered. "This is the second time she did it. Yesterday we seen her…and she just ran away." He looked over at his brother lying on the couch. He seen all of the burns that Ace had. Burns that shouldn't be on a Fire Man. They gave Sabo time to take this in. Marco sat on a wooden chair from the dining room, as did Jozu. Thatch sat in the chair facing Sabo and Ace.

"This is the first time I have heard about a boy," the blonde finally said after moments of silence. He looked up to Marco, hoping he could spare some light on this subject.

"I didn't get a good look at him. By the time I got there, he was being carried away by Luka."

Sabo's hand tensed.

"He could be a marine," suggested Jozu. It made some sense as to why she was carrying him away.

"We will just have to wait until Ace wakes up," Thatch added as he looked down on his captain.

…

Moon reflected against the waters of Water Seven. It rippled as Luka crossed it and the box flew over it. Her footsteps were light and left no trace behind a she hopped from one side of the stream to the other. There were no lights as she came closer to the hideout they used. She slowed down her past and the box's. Kaku's body was floating right next to her and it looked terrible.

She hoped the sake that he drink caused him to forget about everything that happened tonight, but that wasn't a good backup plan to use. She could only hope that she could divert their attention of Kaku and her brothers. At least until they left the city. Luka halted and grabbed Kaku's body, flinging it over her shoulder as she gotten up to the door.

His body was unusually light for a man, but it made up for it in speed. Out of all of the CP9 members, Kaku was the lightest on his feet; even quicker than her.

She opened the door and the two were already waiting for her. They knew she was coming from miles away. Lucci sat in his seat as Kalifa gotten up and moved Kaku into his bedroom. She came back out of his bedroom, her hips swaying from side to side. Her glasses flickered in the light. Even with Kaku at Luka's side, it wasn't safe and now Lucci knew about it.

He even knew about the chase from yesterday. "Reason?" he vulgarly questioned without the help of his pigeon. Luka struggled not to gulp, but she wished she was speaking to the pigeon than Lucci himself. The pigeon had more emotions than him.

Thoughts raced through Luka's mind, but she was careful not to change any facial features. She sat down at the table with Kalifa stand up by the counter. "Pirates causing trouble. Thought Kaku was with me and attacked him. Some shots were fired...and he took care of them."

Lucci's eyes stared through hers. Nothing changed beneath those emotionless eyes. "Why, out of all of the marines stationed on this island, do they chase after you?"

"I may have the power of boxes, but I do not have the power of reading minds, Lucci, neither do you."

His eyelid lowered over his leering eyes. Lines in his chest tensed. Just a simple movement could kill the girl in front of him. Even a grasp around her throat, or a snack of her arm. He blinked and he looked back at Kalifa. Luka could tell right away that Lucci didn't believe her, but the only other witness was Kaku who wasn't able to speak right now.

"Spandam called this morning. Our mission has been canceled so we are being recalled. All ties must be destroyed before we head back."

"Iceberg must be killed tomorrow?" questioned Kalifa.

"Indeed."

"Why? We have been working on this mission for five years," Luka quickly questioned.

"Calls from the higher up."

Luka now understood. It could only be because of Garp and Sengoku. They must have gotten news of Ace and Sabo heading here and decided that Luka must be swiftly moved. It was a lucky break for her, but it didn't mean that Ace and Sabo wasn't counted as a loose tie as Lucci put it. They were still targets for the CP9.

"Nico Robin…" Luka started.

"Yes?" Kalifa questioned.

"…She has been hiding in Franky's House for some time."

Lucci's chair cracked as he moved the seat. "Her appearance could cause a stir unless if taken care of. Luka, stay here and take care of what you brought home. Kalifa and I will get Nico Robin."

**Sorry for the…very very late update. Things are happening, plus I kinda wanted to do something for being on this site for a year (the main reason why I redid this story). I have no clues, so if anyone has any, then shout it out (PM or review). Anyone know of a good name for female Usopp?**

**Thanks for those who reviewed!**

**tuskkins: I'm not, I'm not :P Hehe, I should probably update more often.**

**nathanexplosion7294: Well, in this story Ace isn't in Whitebeard's crew (neither is he allied with him) so Ace isn't in the bid league, and Luka may have done some data removing to help Ace along his journey. Sorry if this bugged ya, and thanks for reviewing though.**

**Devilgirl83: All of that will be answered later on, right now things are just finally getting going. Heh, thanks for the compliment, and for the review.**

**Shirani-Chan: I barely even noticed that :P And it's okay about your reviewing, we all have our lives to do (plus I have been inconsistent with my updating as well). And I shall :D Thanks again**

**general yumi: Had to give it some action there and there; less it would be boring :P She does, and more things are coming her way. I wish I did, but I suck at updating :P**

**RobinLynnSpade: Things are getting too complicated that I had to go back and read what I wrote. Kaku started it because, if someone was chasing after you, wouldn't you try to stop them? Sabo had to do something instead of being the background character (which Jozu is turning into...I should really have him do something soon). And now Marco knows Luka is Ace's sister...so yeah... :/ Thanks for reviewing!**

**EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: There has to be something cool related to boxes.**


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